engagement / engaging students

— from Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development (“WDI R&D”)

From DSC:
Though it looks like the latest round appears to be done, what caught my eye here were the following items:

Blending the physical w/ the virtual and the platform:

The experience must take place simultaneously in a physical space and one of the following:
- Interactive Website
- Mobile (smartphone, tablet device, etc.)
- Another physical location
Other media formats and platforms are encouraged as well. Use your imagination!

Immersion

Digital storytelling

Creativity

New media literacies

Interactivity

Participation

Imagination

Questions:

How might these concepts be used in modern K-12 courses? In higher education?
How could our “textbooks” incorporate these concepts?
Which disciplines should be involved in these cross-disciplinary endeavors?

edShelf: Find the right educational tools for your needs

On 08/13/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, biology, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, creativity, digital learning, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, homeschooling/homeschoolers, interactivity, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, love of learning, mathematics, mobile learning, multi-touch, multimedia, online learning, participation, personalized/customized learning, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, science, simulations, social learning / networks, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, by Daniel Christian

With thanks to
Robin Good for curating this item

Also see:

A “Napster Moment” in Education — from news.yahoo.com
Excerpt:
Digital education is like whitewater rafting. Or like the Napster era in music. The two analogies were among many that came up yesterday as panelists considered the future of technology in education at a Scientific American and Macmillan Science & Education summit on “Learning in the Digital Age,” at Google’s New York headquarters.

Reflections on “Half of us may soon be freelancers: 6 compelling reasons why” [Snow]

On 08/09/2013, in 21st century, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, design, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, global / globalization, higher education, innovation, internet, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Half of us may soon be freelancers: 6 compelling reasons why — from LinkedIn.com by Shane Snow

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

The cost savings and flexibility of a non-salaried workforce often make business sense, but the model requires the workers to suddenly become businesspeople. We wanted to help our writer and editor friends continue doing what they were good at, without having to deal with the stress of finding work, getting paid on time, and marketing themselves on their own. And we were not the only ones who saw the wave coming. Communities for designers and other creative talent have helped these freelancers make it on their own for several years now.

…

And where it’s clear that the majority of creative people will be freelance before long, all signs point to other jobs one day following suit. This will mean huge things for the domestic and global economy, and it will give an enormous number of people increased flexibility, responsibility, and stress.

Freelancers are de-facto entrepreneurs, which means all of us need to learn to think and act like startups.

From DSC:
This is why I think we should help our youth develop their own businesses — or at least have some exposure to running their own business. In high school and in college, we should help our youth begin their own businesses, driven by their passion for a particular discipline/area. The business may or may not make it — that’s not the point. They need to get their feet wet with experimentation, entrepreneurship, business fundamentals, innovating, and pivoting.

Other articles that corroborate the main point I — and the above author — are trying to get at:

40% of America’s workforce will be freelancers by 2020 — from qz.com by Jeremy Neuner
From article on WashingtonPost.com
Because definitions are fuzzy, various studies estimate the percentage of independent workers and sole proprietors at 31 percent, 7.4 percent, and 14.5 percent. No matter how it’s tallied, the freelance tide is rising.
From article on gigaom.com
The company (oDesk) also released other stats in an infographic, including these factoids:
- There are now 4 million freelancers on oDesk
- These collectively list 2,389 skills in the past year
- and they have taken more than 2.6 million tests to back up those skills claims

.

Addendum on 8/15/13:

The New Freelance Economy: How Entrepreneurship Is Disrupting Unemployment — from forbes.com by Dorie Clark and Will Weinraub
Excerpt:
According to government statistics, 7.4% of Americans are unemployed today. That’s over and above the nearly 90 million Americans who are reportedly not in the labor force. Every presidential race in recent memory has had our nation’s unemployment rate as a key topic of discussion. However, as we look at these statistics, we should first ask ourselves how these numbers are actually being calculated. Could we be missing something?
…
Today, what we consider to be a “job” has changed, and it’s crucial that we take these new trends into account we when discuss issues related to unemployment – and how we should go about fixing it.

Reflections on “FlixMaster changes model; becomes Rapt” [Lindenstein] <- involves interactive/digital video

On 08/02/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, convergence, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, interactivity, internet, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, media/film, multimedia, online learning, online media, participation, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, social learning / networks, storytelling, technologies for your home, transmedia, trends, TVs, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

FlixMaster changes model; becomes Rapt — from bcbr.com by Joshua Lindenstein

Excerpts:

BOULDER – Highlighting a shift toward a new model for its interactive online video platform, Boulder-based FlixMaster Inc. this week announced that it is changing its name to Rapt Media Inc.

…

“When we founded FlixMaster, we set out to create the best toolset for video creators wanting to build interactive videos, and we succeeded in doing that that,” Rapt co-founder and chief executive Erika Trautman said in an email. “But as we partnered with really sophisticated companies (like HBO and Maybelline), we realized that our platform and the opportunity it posed was bigger than just interactive video. It was about improving online communication and storytelling through interactivity of all kinds, with video as the central component. Our company had already transitioned to this bigger vision, and we wanted a name that could reflect that vision.

Additional thought from DSC:
This item relates to the convergence of the television, the computer, and the telephone that I’m pulse-checking. I’m hopeful that such a convergence will provide students in the future with 24×7, highly-engaging, interactive, customized/personalized content:

.

More choice. More control.

Reflections on “How to make online courses massively personal” [Peter Norvig]

On 07/25/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, love of learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, professional development, reinvent, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, teaching & learning, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, using teams, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

How to make online courses massively personal — from scientificamerican.com by Peter Norvig
How thousands of online students can get the effect of one-on-one tutoring

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Educators have known for 30 years that students perform better when given one-on-one tutoring and mastery learning—working on a subject until it is mastered, not just until a test is scheduled. Success also requires motivation, whether from an inner drive or from parents, mentors or peers.

Will the rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs) quash these success factors? Not at all. In fact, digital tools offer our best path to cost-effective, personalized learning.

I know because I have taught both ways.

…

Inspired by Nobel laureate Herbert Simon’s comment that “learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks,” we created a course centered on the students doing things and getting frequent feedback. Our “lectures” were short (two- to six-minute) videos designed to prime the attendees for doing the next exercise. Some problems required the application of mathematical techniques described in the videos. Others were open-ended questions that gave students a chance to think on their own and then to hash out ideas in online discussion forums.

…

That is why a properly designed automated intelligent tutoring system can foster learning outcomes as well as human instructors can, as Kurt van Lehn found in a 2011 meta-analysis in Educational Psychologist.

From DSC:
A potential learning scenario in the future:

“Learning Agent, go find me a MOOC (or what the MOOC will morph into) about ________.”
Similar to a Google Alert, the Learning Agent returns some potential choices. I select one.
.
Once there… “System, let’s begin.” I begin taking the online-based course — which is stocked full of a variety of media, some interactive, that I get to choose from for each module/item based upon my personal preferences — and the intelligent tutoring system kicks in and responses at relevant points based upon my questions, answers, responses. The system uses AI, data mining, learning analytics, to see how I’m doing. It tracks this for each student. Humans regularly review the data to begin noticing patterns and to tweak the algorithms based upon these patterns.
.
If at any time I find the responses from the automated intelligent tutoring system confusing or weak, I will:
- Make note of why I’m confused or disagree with the response (via an online-based form entry on the page; this feedback gets instantly sent to the Team of Specialists in charge of the “course.” They will use it to tweak the course/algorithms.)
- Ask to speak with a person, at which point I am asked to choose whether my inquiry would best be handled by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) at $___/hour/request (more expensive price) or by an entry-level tutor (at a lower $___/hour/request). I then enter into a videoconference-based tutoring session with them, and they can access my records and even take over my screen (if I let them). Once I get my questions answered, I return to the course and continue.

From DSC:
A twist on the above scenario would be if a cohorted group of people — not age-based — met in a physical place/room and were able to bounce ideas off of each other before anyone ante’d up for additional expenses by contacting a tutor and/or an SME. They could even share the expenses of the “call” (so-to-speak).

Alive in the Swamp — from nesta.org.uk by Michael Fullan and Katelyn Donnelly

Excerpt (emphasis and link below from DSC):

The authors argue that we should seek digital innovations that produce at least twice the learning outcome for half the cost of our current tools. To achieve this, three forces need to come together. One is technology, the other pedagogy, and the third is change knowledge, or how to secure transformation across an entire school system.

…

The breakthrough in Alive in the Swamp is the development of an Index that will be of practical assistance to those charged with making these kinds of decisions at school, local and system level. Building on Fullan’s previous work, Stratosphere, the Index sets out the questions policymakers need to ask themselves not just about the technology at any given moment but crucially also about how it can be combined with pedagogy and knowledge about system change. Similarly, the Index should help entrepreneurs and education technology developers to consider particular features to build into their products to drive increased learning and achieve systemic impact.

The future will belong not to those who focus on the technology alone but to those who place it in this wider context and see it as one element of a wider system transformation. Fullan and Donnelly show how this can be done in a practical way.

.

Also see:
.

Some items re: the Leap Motion Controller

On 07/23/2013, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, by Daniel Christian

Leap Motion Controller review — from digitaltrends.com by Matt Smith

.

Here come the Leap Motion music apps — from evolver.fm by Eliot Van Buskirk

Look before you Leap Motion — from technologyreview.com by Rachel Metz
Leap Motion’s low-cost gesture-control device is not as easy to use as you might think.

——-

Back from Dec 2012:

Leaping Into the Gesture-Control Era — from technologyreview.com by Tom Simonite
Technology that accurately tracks finger motions could revolutionize desktop and mobile computing.

The growing importance of being able to craft a multimedia-based message/narrative [Christian]

On 07/23/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, animation, communications, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, expectations, graphics, internet, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, marketing/social marketing, multimedia, participation, second screen apps, social learning / networks, social media, story, storytelling, tablets, technologies for your home, television, transmedia, user experience (UX), by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I love multimedia because it enables me to craft a message using audio, video, text, graphics, and even animations. The Internet extends the power of this communication by allowing that message to go forth 24 x 7 x 365 in multi-directional ways — even allowing others to join in the conversations and participate.

The following item made me reflect upon on how important this is becoming to business:

Is transmedia storytelling the new digital marketing? — from rethinkeverythingblog.com by Jason Thibeault (as Scooped by siobhan-o-flynn onto Tracking Transmedia)

Excerpt:

How (and why) is Marketing Changing?
The first thing to understand about marketing today is that it’s all about shared experience. Consumer behavior is radically changing with respect to content consumption. No longer are people consuming most of their content on the TV, a newspaper, or even their computer. Rather, they are using a combination of channels:

From DSC:

Won’t this trend also impact students’ expectations/hopes/engagement?
What do we need to do to help youth build these skillsets?

Also related/see:

The rise, implications & benefits of the second screen — from newsworks.org.uk by Mark Challinor
Telegraph Media Group’s director of mobile Mark Challinor says in this new era of second screens, news companies must create content that helps consumers to multi-task on multiple platforms with multiple devices.

Excerpt:
Watching television – or even reading a newspaper – with a smartphone and/or tablet device is becoming one of the most popular leisure activities of this “mobile age”. In turn, publishers such as ourselves are trying to find ways to capitalise on this somewhat new consumer behaviour of real-time interaction, which, more often than not, includes social media. This type of interaction, referred to as “the second screen” or “the companion device”, has become not just a latest hot topic of discussion all over social media blogs; it is a huge development for the mobile app industry and a target-rich environment for our advertisers.

Emerging markets’ second-screen boost with 1BN smart devices by 2014 — from rapidtvnews.com by Joseph O’Halloran
Excerpt:
New research by IDC has revealed that it won’t just be Western Europe and North America forming happy hunting grounds for second-screen services and applications. The analyst says it is clear that demand for smart connected devices is quickly shifting from developed to emerging markets and that by the end of 2014, global shipments of smart connected devices such as PCs, tablets, and smartphones will exceed surpass 1.7 billion units, with roughly one billion units delivered to emerging markets. The emerging markets are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% over the 2012-2017 forecast period, compared to the 7% CAGR expected in developed markets.

From DSC:
The way we interact with digital video may never be the same again. Consider the following developments/items:

.

Touchcast.com

.

How TouchCast plans to disrupt TV watching

.

TouchCast: a television studio in your iPad — from agbeat.com by Jennifer Walpole .

interlude.fm

.

Interactive video startup Interlude raises $16m from Intel, Sequoia and other big names — from thenextweb.com by Robin Wauters

.

Flixmaster.com

.

cinematique.com:

What is MTEVIDEO?
The Motion Touch Enabled Video platform allows you touch on the things that interest you as they move within video, adding them to your personal boutique so you can learn, shop, and share from any MTEVIDEO whenever you want.

With Cinematique’s ‘touch-enabled’, shoppable videos, product placement might not be so bad — from techcrunch.com by Anthony Ha

From DSC:
I sure hope that we can use these sorts of tools, concepts, and technologies within the educational/training-related realms! More choice. More control. Participation. Interactivity. Engagement.

Confused about ed tech tools? New rating site for apps and games [Schwartz]

On 07/10/2013, in cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, pedagogy, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Confused about ed tech tools? New rating site for apps and games — from blogs.kqed.org by Katrina Schwartz

Excerpt:

To evaluate the bonanza of apps, games, and websites that claim to have educational value, Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization best known for rating commercial media for age-level appropriateness, has developed a new rating system called Graphite.

The site provides ratings of products in three categories: pedagogy, engagement, and support. Pedagogy is the highest weighted category, and is based on the depth and quality of content and how well it’s integrated into the mechanics of the reviewed game or website. The highest rated games require players to think critically about how to progress, and help build skills that are transferable. The engagement category measures how well the game grabs and keeps players’ attention, and the support category refers to the quality of tools the product offers to help learners when they get stuck. Support also includes tools for parents or teachers so they can help a learner and gets higher marks if it offers content in a variety of ways, catering to different types of learners. Some examples might be clear tutorials or content offered with both visuals and text.

Very sharp!!! A glimpse into the future of digital video & online learning! Lifelong learners of the world, let me hear some noise! [Christian]

On 07/09/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, attention, convergence, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, lifelong learning, love of learning, motivation, multi-touch, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, online media, participation, presentations, student-related, technologies for your home, transmedia, trends, user experience (UX), user interface design, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
First, take a look at this interactive video from the Wall Street Journal:

.

For further information on that video, you can also see:

‘Obamacare’ Made Easy to Understand — from /live.wsj.com
David Wessel discusses a new WSJ.com interactive video that helps viewers better understand the Affordable Health Care Act as well as its slate of rules and penalties.

.

From DSC:

Excellent, creative use of technology! Lifelong learners of the world, let me hear some noise! Your learning futures just got much more interesting, dynamic, and interactive!

You will be given more choice and more control than you’ve ever had before. You will be able to interact with digital videos, drill down, take some rights turns and come back again, and more.

For example, during the WSJ video, you can click on the radio within the digital video in order to “drill down” and listen to more about a certain topic — while the main presentation “holds on”…

…you can jump ahead to the next marker…pause…rewind…click to get some further text-based information/details on a topic of interest:

…and more. In other words, you have more choice, more control in your learning experience. This, at minimum, is a piece of online learning’s — and digital video’s — future.

But I hear you saying, so what? Flash has been doing this for a while now. And that, my friends, is the only downside I see in this implementation from the WSJ — it was done using Flash.

As Flash won’t fly on iOS-based devices, an HTML5-based solution needs to come into the picture…and this is where Touchcast shines!

.

As Paul Sawers explains, you can add interactive, browsable layers onto your video and deliver it in an HTML5-based format.

.

An excerpt from Paul’s article:

Things start to get really interesting with video apps (vApps). TouchCast lets you create videos that are layered with live Web pages, video clips, maps, Twitter streams and other facets of the digital world. “We’re actually claiming that this is the future of the Web,” says Segal, TouchCasts’s CEO.

Indeed, TouchCast’s vApp library is ‘open’, so developers can create and customize their own vApps.

Bottom line:
“Digital textbooks” will never be the same again (not to mention learning modules, transmedia, ads, presentations, digital storytelling, and more)!

Also see:

TouchCast aims to redefine the web video

Using the iPad with a Projector [Gray]

On 06/28/2013, in A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, collaboration, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, innovation, internet, IT in HE, learning spaces, smart classrooms, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Using the iPad with a Projector — from palomar.edu by Terry Gray; note that this is from 8/24/12

For a wireless solution:

.

or for a wired solution:

VGA Adapter

Also see:

AirServer

Education

There are times when you need to show content to your class to engage your audience, using an iPad. With AirServer you can wirelessly beam your iPad display to your Mac or PC and from there to your projector, smartboard or HDTV. This gives you the freedom to move around the class with your iPad in hand. AirServer also supports multiple simultaneous connections, so one or more students could mirror their iPads to share their ideas and their work with the rest of the class.

Educational environments vary, not just in size and lighting but in network security and access. To solve these issues we’ve added features such as picture enhancement settings and password protection.

Summary

Beam your iPad or iPhone screen to HDMI or VGA projector, smartboard or HDTV via a Mac or PC
True full screen display
Picture enhancement settings
Secure password protection
Collaborate with students using simultaneous connections

From DSC:
Wouldn’t it be great if students could “beam up” their content from any device, from anywhere? i.e. Whether they be in a face-to-face classroom, at a remote location, or out traveling?

Shortfall in educated U.S. workers to worsen: study — — from reuters.com by Paige Gance

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON | Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:55pm EDT (Reuters) – U.S. workers with advanced skills in areas such as math, science and healthcare are growing more scarce, with a shortfall of 20 million adequately educated workers expected by 2020, a study released on Wednesday found.

“The United States has been under-producing workers with postsecondary education since the 1980s,” researchers at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce said in the study. “Jobs will return, but not everyone will be ready for them.”

They predicted that 65 percent of the projected 165 million jobs in 2020 will require more than a high school diploma, up from 59 percent in 2010.

From DSC:
IF the status quo is maintained, the outlook for the U.S. is not good.

That is, if the prices of obtaining a degree in higher ed keep going up and the middle class continues to be hollowed out, a smaller pool of people will even be able to afford getting a postsecondary education (regardless of whether it’s in healthcare, math, or science).

How much longer do the status quo’ers think that the U.S. Federal Government will wait around, watching this situation develop? How much longer before the Federal Government looks elsewhere for its workforce development (let alone the students out there who need to make a living)?

There is not an infinite period of time for institutions of traditional higher education to respond. MOOCs are a start, but they are but one option and they need to be improved. Along those lines:

The organization who can collaborate with those perfecting IBM’s Watson, Apple’s Siri, or Google Now — and integrate those technologies into a low-cost solution for postsecondary education — will be a potent force in the future.

Example slides from
Will Richardson’s solid presentation at ISTE 2013, entitled ” Abundant Learning: Four newish ideas for powerful classrooms”

From DSC:
This idea of self-directed/owned learning is spot on — and not just for those in K-12, but also for those in higher education and for those in the corporate world as well! It unleashes an enormous amount of intrinsic energy, motivation, drive, grit.

Each person needs to own and build their learning ecosystem — identifying one’s gifts, talents, passions, interests and then going out and developing those things. If we each do what we do best, the whole world benefits. As we will need others along the way — a team-based approach, communities of practice, and several of the other things/skills Will alluded to will be very important as well.

Learning Ecosystems

Reflections on “Half of us may soon be freelancers: 6 compelling reasons why” [Snow]

Some items re: the Leap Motion Controller

Using the iPad with a Projector [Gray]

Shortfall in educated U.S. workers to worsen: study [Gance]

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